Boise State and the other Mountain West schools headed to the Pac-12 are paying far less to get out the door than the league had first pushed for.
According to a report from Daniel Libit of Sportico, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State will split a combined $49 million in exit fees, which works out to $9.8 million per school. The Mountain West had been seeking about $100 million.
Libit also reported that the conference withheld $46.9 million in distributions from the five departing schools, leaving the Mountain West to collect another $2.1 million in exit fees.
The poaching penalties are still another piece of the financial puzzle. The Mountain West had wanted $55 million from the Pac-12 on that front, but the terms of that part of the settlement have not been made public. Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune previously reported the Mountain West will receive between $22 and $24 million.
Earlier this month, the Pac-12, Mountain West and the five schools announced they had reached a settlement agreement in a joint statement.
“The Mountain West Conference, the Pac-12 Conference, Boise State University, Colorado State University, Utah State University, and The Board of Trustees of the California State University for the benefit of San Diego State University and California State University, Fresno have reached final agreements to settle all pending litigation among the parties,” the statement read. “With these matters concluded, the conferences and institutions can move forward with certainty and focus on serving their student-athletes, campuses, fans, and communities.”
The agreement brings an end to a long-running dispute between the conferences that started nearly three years ago, when 10 former Pac-12 schools left for the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 and Oregon State and Washington State were left behind.
With no conference home, Oregon State and Washington State stayed independent and worked out a football scheduling partnership with the Mountain West for the 2024 season, with an option for the following year.
That arrangement didn’t last. In September 2024, the Mountain West said the scheduling deal would not be renewed.
A week later, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State announced they were joining the Pac-12. Utah State followed, and then Gonzaga from the WCC and Texas State from the Sun Belt.
Once the first four Mountain West schools were in the fold, the Pac-12 responded by filing a federal antitrust lawsuit challenging the legality of a poaching penalty tied to the original scheduling agreement. Boise State, Colorado State and Utah State later filed their own lawsuit over the exit fees.
Libit reported that the settlement agreement was signed by Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez on July 29 and by the five university presidents on July 31.
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